"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your
strength, but you would have none of it." (NIV) Hezekiah, the king of the southern kingdom of Judah, was trying to make a deal with Egypt to help him fight Assyria. Assyria was at the time dismantling the northern kingdom of Israel. Isaiah 30:15 tells us what Hezekiah was doing wrong. Thankfully, God spoke to Hezekiah through Isaiah, and he eventually depended on God instead of Egypt. Assyria never captured the southern kingdom because Hezekiah listened to God's message through Isaiah. But suppose he had not listened and had carried out his original plan? The history would be totally different. There is a message here for us. We need to depend on God to help us with the difficult moments of life. Of course, at times the Lord will lead us to help that the world gives. But God should be the first source of help that we turn to. What does the text give as the solution? First, he mentions repentance. We need to repent for our lack of faith in God, and an almost worshipful faith in human reason and wisdom, which can be our "Egypt." We need to remember that repentance means to turn away from the direction that leads away from God to the the direction that leads toward God. In Navy boot camp we called it "about face." If our direction in life is leading us away from God, it is the wrong direction. We never reach a stage in life when we do not need to repent. The first command that both Jesus and John the Baptist gave was to repent. Second, he mentions rest. If we would put our faith in God in the first place, we would not suffer from the anxiety that we experience. During the fight that we have with the difficulties of life, we are not at rest because we use our own resources to overcome them. We can be at rest because we know that God is with us, whatever might happen. These difficulties can be from many sources, e.g., physical illness, public pressure, worries over finances, etc. The fact that God is with us is all-important to us both spiritually and mentally. I know that my mind is at rest when I know that God is with me. I think that it would be difficult to make it in this world without a knowledge of His presence. I know it would be for me. Third, he mentions "in quietness and trust is your salvation." David expressed this perfectly in Psalm 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me." In "quietness and rest" David depended on the Lord's rod and staff, not his own. I can't speak for anyone else, but I know that I am more spiritually centered when I get alone with Christ in "quietness and trust." Finally, he mentions "but you would have none of it." Fortunately, this did not turn out to be true of Hezekiah, but sometimes it is true of us. Don't let it be said of you that "you would have none of it." In "quietness and trust" depend upon God. Sadly this could be the epitaph of many people: In reference to salvation and abundant life in Christ, they "would have none it." Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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